Tell me if this would be legal

[catlynLPN]

Ok, here are the circumstances. This is long, so bear with me.

We have this computer system where I work to give medications by.

Everything {meds} are charted in the computer.

This computer still has glitches and bugs in it.

So......I am a PM nurse. I NEVER work days.

So, one evening, a co-worker and I were checking on some things and ACCIDENTALLY found that the computer had placed MY initials into the early morning medication round......just as if I had given those early morning meds but I did NOT. Something is wrong with the computer......I reported it to our new DON, who has been on the job now about 2 weeks and they are going to try to fix it.

The day in question was April 4th, on the early morning med pass.

The QUESTION I have is this.............an employee who works there, came in tonight and was asking me some questions about how this computer works. I was explaining it to her, and I also told her about the computer error where it had put my initials in the the early morning med pass.

She thinks that the new DON can legally cross out my initials, {on the printed MAR destined to be placed in the charts} date it, {just like you do to correct an error} and then write in the nurse's initials that the computer SHOULD have placed there. {The nurse whose initials should be there has retired...no longer working there.}

I told her that was ILLEGAL. She argued with me and said it is legal. She says she has been correcting errors for people in the charts and dating the error, for many years {she gives an example of a misspelled word}.

I told her correcting a misspelled word is one thing, but in charting medications, that is illegal for a third nurse to cross out one nurse's initials and write in another nurse's initials. She says it is legal and that our new DON could do it.

What say you all??? Would you think it would be legal for the NEW director of nurses to do that on a date when she wasn't even yet employeed there.....{the date is secondary....just the act of crossing one nurse's initials out and writing in another's....is a case by itself.}

Sorry for the long post.

[GrumpyRN63, ADN, RN]

I agree w/ the previous poster , if you log in, it's your name, in the system, if this computer 'system' has done this before , how on earth can you distinguish between who charted what when,sounds insane to me, you'd have to cross match nurses and their shifts w/all of their meds??? How can that be ?? Years ago we had people stealing narcs from the Pyxis using others log-in ID, since then we have changed to fingerprint ID, problem solved, but I don't see how the computer can screw anything up, it's either you, or your'e ID

[GrumpyRN63, ADN, RN]

BTW, in response to your question, if it's in her capacity to fix it, let her fix it ;it should be crossed out w/ med error or not given, even better why can't you cross out the error, sign it yourself and have the DON cosign it, I don't think the other nurses name or initials should be written in since it can't be verified she actually gave the meds unless she was willing to come in and rectify the chart. Our system allows us to remove charting error- which includes meds.

[justme1972]

Also, you need to make SURE that the computer has 100% cleared out before you log yourself off.

The computer is most likely not suffering from a glitch...I have read tons of posts on here where nurses will do computerized charting, medpulls, etc...walk away from the computer only to find out another nurse has come behind them, and the system still thinks the other person is logged in.

Unless it's an emergency, to save your own butt, you need to log off and stand and wait for a clear screen before you walk off.

[bollweevil]

My question is why did "the computer" put your initials in for the wrong shift? Aren't you required to log into the system to chart, which would identify you as the person doing the charting and automatically enter your initials?

Is someone else using your log-in ID?

Also, why is it putting her initials anywhere? Why isn't the nurse just signing her own name at the bottom of the MAR and initialing q dose she really gives, the way we have always done? What if she quits? What if 2 people have the same initials? I really don't understand their system at all. I hope it gets fixed real soon. Or that they resort to paper and pen. Not every innovation is good, not every change is for the better.